Would The World Be Better Off If-

[jogsxyz]

[ QUOTE ]
Belief in astrology is relatively harmless. It's belief in a butt-kicking guy in the sky that causes all the trouble.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's believing the guys who claim they're speaking for the butt-kicking guy that's causing the trouble.

[Fierce Lion7]

My answer would be no.

Some folks talked about religion, etc. below.

So let me turn the tables and ask all of you this...

"Would the world be better off if everyone was as close to 100% logical thinking as possible?"

Kind of like asking if a game with perfect Poker players is good. It is interesting, but is it profitable? Hell, is it even fun?

I like to read the Illiad. Do I BELIEVE it? No. I am glad Homer recorded this mythical battle. Does that make me a "fool" because I like to read about a mythical story? From a strictly logical sense it does.

I don't know. An individual would be better off not buying the Astrology BS. I don't think it impacts society much.

For Gamblers, I would think that they would want people as superstitious as possible. That seems obvious to me, but I haven't seen it mentioned here. That's my two cents.

Fierce Lion7 out.

[PLOlover]

[ QUOTE ]
You mean like Presidents?

luckyme

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah my first thought was that no one believed in it anyway, then I remembered Ron and Nancy lol.

[andyfox]

"An individual would be better off not buying the Astrology BS. I don't think it impacts society much."

Maybe not. But maybe the habit of thinking about things illogically effects society quite a bit. Supposedly, Nancy Reagan's astrologer had input into some of the decisions Ronald Reagan made while president. Maybe a person who felt that either the astrologer's advice should be sought, or would let his wife have such an influence on him would be the kind of person who would be guided by similarly supernatural thinking in all of his decisions.

[SNOWBALL]

This is a tough one. I think believing in astrology is almost definitely -EV for everyone. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean that some people don't benefit from it on accident. Similarly, some people might benefit from never playing AA (over the short term)

The other problem with saying yes is similar to the problem with hard drugs. Being a heroin junky is terribly destructive, and almost everyone could be better off without it. However, that doesn't mean that they will be better off without it.

For example, a junky might run out of heroin, and decide that they don't really want to live life and kill themselves.

In general, I think astrology almost always plays SOME positive role in a person's life. However, the negative consequences that come with it obviate basic ration decision making. The real catch is that some people will be just as stupid and bad off WITHOUT astrology to cloud their perception of the world.

My tentative answers are:
1. yes the world would be better off
2. About 70% of people who believe in astrology would be better off not believing in it.

[ill rich]

no

none

[ill rich]

would the world be bettor off if g was equal to 9.2m/s/s?

[Voltaire]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Belief in astrology is relatively harmless. It's belief in a butt-kicking guy in the sky that causes all the trouble.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's believing the guys who claim they're speaking for the butt-kicking guy that's causing the trouble.

[/ QUOTE ]

I stand amended.

[Voltaire]

[ QUOTE ]
would the world be bettor off if g was equal to 9.2m/s/s?

[/ QUOTE ]

This could be the basis for a science fiction story about a planet the size of the earth but with not so much iron in the center.

We would be different, for sure.

[PairTheBoard]

Those who believe in astrology are part of the cultural ecology. Maybe we could do without them. Then again, they might be like some exotic insect in the Amazon who's DNA holds the secret to curing what ails us.

PairTheBoard